Shelf support



y 1937- J. c. BUCHANAN 2,080,907

SHELF SUPPORT Filed Aug.-l3, 1934 INVENTOR. Joint Buchaha n,

g ATTO NEY.

Patented May 18, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SHELF SUPPORT Application August 13, 1934, Serial No. 739,592

1 Claim.

This invention relates to supports for shelves and the like and has particular reference to shelf supports for refrigerators and other cabinets which enable the adjustment of said shelves to various elevations within the cabinet without the necessity of tipping the shelf or removing the same from the cabinet.

It is an object of the invention, therefore, to provide an adjustable shelf which may easily and readily be manually adjusted from one position to another when in use.

Another object of the invention is to provide a relatively simple and inexpensive adjustable shelf for a refrigerator cabinet and the like.

Another object of the invention is to provide a shelf for a refrigerator cabinet and the'like with means whereby the shelf may be adjusted while maintaining the same in a horizontal plane, thus enabling the compartment within a refrigerator cabinet to be altered while the refrigerator is in use and the shelf is loaded with food stuffs to be refrigerated.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from reference to the accompanying drawing, of which there is one sheet and in which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of a refrigerator in connection with which the invention is illustrated;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view taken in a plane corresponding to line 22 of Fig. 1 of the adjustable shelf supporting means;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of a shelf within the refrigerator cabinet and taken in a plane on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 2 and illustrating the shelf in the other of its adjusted positions.

In Fig. 1 there is illustrated an elevational view of a refrigerator comprising in general a cabinet l0 affording in superposed relationship a food storage compartment or chamber l2 and a refrigerating mechanism chamber l4. Within the food storage chamber l2 there is disposed an evaporator l6 of a refrigerating system which 45 includes a compressor l8, a motor 20 for driving the compressor, a series of condenser coils 22, and a receiver 24, all of which elements of a refrigerating system are more or less diagrammatically illustrated and, with the exception of the evaporator iii, are disposed as a unit within the mechanism chamber 14. The chamber I4 is adapted to be closed at the front by a door 26.

The food storage chamber l2 at the front of the cabinet is provided with an opening 28, which is adapted to be closed by a pivoted door 30.

Within the food storage chamber" there are pins of one series are disposed at the same elevation within the food storage chamber l2. Each of the shelves 32 along the side edges thereof and adjacent the corners is provided with a bracket 38 which may be welded or otherwise secured thereto at 40'. Each of the brackets 38 includes a series of hooked shaped portions 40, each of which portions is disposed at'difierent elevations and is selectively engageable with the pins 36 for dependingly supporting the shelf 32 from the pin 36. It will be observed, referring to Fig. 2 of the drawing, that the bracket 38 is open at one side thereof and that the hooked shaped portions 40 are rounded just sufficiently to engage the pins 36 and prevent the bracket 38 from slipping off of the same.

The rear edge of each of the shelves 32 preferably is spaced from one of the walls of the food storage chamber l2, such as the rear wall 42, sufiiciently to permit the shelf 32 to be shifted laterally to disengage the hooked shaped portions 40 from engagement with the pins 36 and so that the shelf 32 may be vertically moved from one of its positions to the other without tipping the shelf out of a horizontal plane or removing the shelf from the refrigerator cabinet.

While the refrigerated chamber I2 is partially filled with food stuffs and the shelves 32 are loaded, it frequently is desirable to change the size of one or more of the compartments 34 so that other foodstuffs of a somewhat bulky nature may be accommodated within the chamber l2. To facilitate the rearrangement of the space within the food chamber I2, the shelves 32 may be adjusted vertically as heretofore indicated, and when the same are loaded with food stuffs to enlarge or diminish the compartments 34. Besides saving a great amount of time necessitated by removing the food stuffs from the shelf 32 which is to be moved, the door 30 of the refrigerator cabinet need not be maintained open -refrigerated storage chamber l2.

While the structures and methods disclose 5 herein may be considered as illustrating a preferred form and application of the principles of invention, there is no intention to limit the invention to anything less than is fairly to be considered within the scope of the appended claim.

Iclaim:

In a refrigerator cabinet, the combination of a plurality of means disposed in the inner walls of said cabinet and extending therefrom at either end and fixedly secured to the top of said shelf near each corner thereof and between said hooks, one of said hooks being adapted to lie above and away from said shelf and below the other of said hooks, and in the same vertical plane therewith, each of said hooks being adapted for engagement with and suspension from said supporting means in said cabinetwhereby said shelf may be suspendedat either of a pair of selected elevations.

JOHN C. BUCHANAN. 

